That was my original thought about Ross releasing yet another visual, this time for the track “911,” from God Forgives. Then my man shot me a link to this storywhich essentially says “Freeway” Rick Ross, the real former drug kingpin, has to pay the legal fees of Rick Ross, the rapper, after the real Ross lost the court battle over the use of his name and image. According to the real Ross, “They were trying to get me to pay $1.3 million, but she [Judge Miller] knocked it down to $500k.”

F*ck it. Rick Ross is either teflon or he’s Keyser Söze. Either way, he cannot be defeated.

Update: Rick Ross, the real one, and his representatives have emailed and asked us to share that Rick Ross, the rapper, still has to pay the remaining balance in legal fees, which totals to approximately $800K. They also want everyone to know Rick Ross, the real one, still has another case against Rick Ross, the rap one, and Warner Brothers for basically the same thing – profiting off the name Rick Ross.

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Amazing how little respect Officer Rick has for his namesake… It’s one thing to be a character or to claim you’re paying homage thru art somehow, but laws aside you know where u got the name from and that dude just wants his name back. That Officer Rick would even dispute that is just a failure of of a man’s character.

“Rozay” is established enough that folk don’t even care anymore and Ross wouldn’t be entitled to eny past earnings based on copyright infringement since he never owned a copyright on his name to be violated.

Now you’re gonna make this dude pay your legal fees?!

No home training… no manners… no morals… no scruples.

If Maybach hadn’t already been discontinued, I’d be praying for Rolls Royce & Mercedes to sue his silly ass. But once again… crime do pay.

ummm…the man sued him. How much respect does he owe him? He already has essentially discontinued the use of the “Rick Ross” moniker. If an entertainer has the opportunity to make an accuser pay the legal fees for a frivolous law suit, why not?

…and this isn’t just a Ross thing to me. If Pacino sued the rapper Scarface, Azie Faison sued AZ, or if Gordon Liu sued the Wu Tang clan, I would feel the same way. These are clearly entertainers influenced by the culture, not vultures looking to impersonate and confuse the public. That type of stuff doesn’t even belong in court.

Ross (the rapper) has made a career off another mans name and image. And he wont admit to it. He raps about selling coke (freeway did that) he raps about being a G (freeway was/is a G). Freeway(the rapper) talked to the real Rick Ross about using his name, and there have been no problems with them. Respect. Learn to pay it.

Sooooo…this is worth a $10 mil lawsuit how?
I don’t quite see the big difference between this and hundreds of other rappers who name themselves after “popular” drug kingpins, pimps, dictators, or fictional movie characters. It’s okay not to like it, but a lawsuit?

Yeah, don’t get it twisted. I’m not cosigning Ross (rapper) but I’ve long given up that argument. It’s entertainment, people accepted it and he got over. What’s really funny is he really never gave a fuck enough to even respond when he got outted as a CO lol.

But once Ross (real) took it to court, the rules changes. It wasn’t “what the streets” think. It’s what the courts think and lawyers can “prove” (used very loosely here).

Man, fuck Rick Ross. I dont know how yall can accept his persona and music. The guy got rich faking it and now that he rich he gotta be respected because hes a “hustler”? His whole shit is fabricated. And im tired of the ” he makes hot music” excuse. Tell me thats not the same flow and same beat for the thousandth time. This shit is frustrating.

Honestly, the fact that Real Rick didn’t sue Freeway probably hurt his case. You’re not allowed to appear like you’re discriminating in cases like this. Obviously though, it is a little different. Ross is using Rick’s real name, and is basically assuming his character as well, neither of which can be said about Freeway. This case could have easily went a different way with a different judge.

As for the Scarface comparison… FOH with that. Al Pacino is not Scarface. Al Pacino didn’t even create Scarface, nor was he the first actor to portray him. Rick Ross is Rick Ross. That is an undeniable fact.

You’ve never heard me say anything about it, I assure you. I don’t have a problem with Ross. That being said, Rick Ross is his actual name. And he doesn’t live anything like the man, but acts as he does. That’s definitely profiting from his likeness. I have no idea why you capitalized Scarface, obviously you didn’t actually read my comment because you would know that that would just hurt your argument if you had.

I think Rozay is thee most giffable rapper out right now.
Honestly, I think the reason people like him is just that he’s genuinely cool.
He’s a millionaire who’d rather eat at Wing Stop than eat what his private chef prepares.
He’s a former underground rapper, who reached back for the underground when he got on (y’all don’t remember when dude was on Def Squad, and you cannot tell me that Stalley and Wale – and MAYBE Meek – wouldn’t have been on Rawkus 15 years ago).

As for the name though, that does mean something in the court of law. When you take the name of a guy of a drug dealer from Florida, claim to be a drug dealer from Florida when you are not, and make boasts like the fact that he knows Noriega, the REAL Noriega, it’s pretty messed up. Dude just stole his image and identity.

That being said, do I think it’s made a huge difference in his career? Probably not. At most it has just helped because it is a marketable name. But he has profited off of the man’s name and image. If I were to call myself Aaron Smarter, start rapping, and adopt your life story would you be happy about it?

And what rapper is “real”? Seriously? I’m talking absolutely did everything they spoke on, on wax, in real life, EXACTLY as they said it on the song?
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Exactly. Rap has been filled with exaggeration/lies since the beginning. If the internet had been around since day one hundreds of rappers would have gotten their cards pulled by now.

I feel that, but then, one could argue that all that is nothing more than basic drug rapper template number 5b. Biggie SWORE he was kingpin large in his raps, when we all know at BEST he was mid-level. Ghostface moved minor weight, if I can use that term loosely… Capone and Noreaga, Scarface… Niggas all exagerrated their stories using the exact same template. Hell… 50 Cent! I have yet to hear somebody come up with a legit, rational argument as why it was so bad for William Leonard Roberts to do it

Fuck ‘em both. Especially the “real” one…him being responsible for destroying the black community with crack and all. That nigga deserves as many losses as he can get. And especially the fake one for being especially fake.